How to conceal scratches on laminated kitchen benchtops

If you have a laminated kitchen bench top you may have some scratches on it.

By scratches I mean the ones that go through the top colour and appear light or white (e.g. they catch the eye).

Lighter scratches may be more apparent depending on the type of laminate you have. High Gloss laminates reflect more laminate

consequently more scratches and imperfections are visible.

To cheaply conceal scratches to laminate there are two options available to you.

Firstly,

The first option is to go to Bunnings or your local hardware store and look for wax or crayons. You can find many different wax colours

in the Paint section in Bunnings near all the natural timber stains and old skool finishes like shellac.

Find the colour closest to your bench top then rub it into the scratch. You can also try melting the wax or crayon into the scratch with a flame.

This is certainly the bold repair option as there are many more possibilities for failure. The was may be too hot and melt a hole in your existing top, the flame may set

your bench top alight, you may burn yourself and burn your bench top. Preferably try rubbing the coloured wax in first - much easier.

Secondly,

The other option, and the one preferred by many Builders, is get a colour felt tip marker set. The sets your give your kids to colour in outlined drawings with. Try colours similar to the bench top until

you get the one that blends in the best. You can even mix colours to get blends and tints going. Start with a lighter base first before adding darker tints.

With the coloured marker or felt tip marker option if you bugger it up you can always use methylated spirits or thinners to remove the colour from the scratch then start again.

Aside from these options the only other way to fix a scratched bench top is remove the entire scratched bench top section from joint to joint and replace. This is the most expensive option as you

will more than likely have to remove sinks, tap ware, tiles (then find spare tiles that match)- then reinstall once the bench top is repaired. Not to mention the unscratched sections may be

damaged when you remove the section to be repaired.

Knowing this puts the wax, crayon, felt tip marker options as a good first choice for repair.